A day after split, Congress accuses NCP of hobnobbing with BJP

New Delhi: A day after its alliance with NCP split, Congress on Friday accused Sharad Pawar's party of hobnobbing with BJP for the past few months and said it was happy going it alone in the coming Maharashtra Assembly polls.

Party spokesperson Shobha Oza steered clear of questions on imposition of President's rule in Maharashtra after NCP withdrew support, and said it was matter for the Election Commission to decide.

BJP, meanwhile, has ruled out any tie-up with NCP after the October 15 elections.

Unfazed by the break up of its 15-year-old alliance with NCP, Oza said that Congress workers are enthused and feel that it will help in the long term.

"We are happy to go it alone and we will prove it," she said briefing reporters at the AICC headquarters here, insisting that Congress is the only party in Maharashtra, which can give honest leadership, has presence in all regions of the state and has state leadership with experience in administration.

"No other party has all the three qualities," she said.

Asked whether Congress could tie-up with NCP after the polls, she said, "You know what was happening for the last few months, how NCP had been hobnobbing with BJP."

To further queries, she said, "Congress will not have any truck with any party which will have anything to do with BJP".

On the issue of alliance with Samajwadi Party, she was ambivalent, saying that any move towards bringing together secular forces should be welcomed.

Earlier, AICC Media Department Chairman Ajay Maken told reporters that the party was not surprised that NCP pulled the plug.

"This is not surprising for us because we knew that over the past one-and-a-half to two months, NCP has been trying to get close to BJP. We were prepared for this and we were already shortlisting candidates for all seats," he said.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had said last night after the break-up of the alliance that NCP's announcement of the decision to snap ties with Congress soon after the crumbling of Shiv Sena-BJP alliance was "a remarkable coincidence" and that "personal ambitions prevailed more than larger interest of the people".

NCP had blamed the split on Chavan.

The developments have dramatically altered the political landscape in Maharashtra, which had become used to two political groupings--Sena-BJP and Congress-NCP--dominating the scene.